


Coming Home

by Btryx



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Because that's what she does, Eleven is happy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Post-Episode: s04e13 Journey's End, Reunions, Romance, also River doesn't exist here, rose comes back, the Ponds are great
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-10-03 04:22:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17276993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Btryx/pseuds/Btryx
Summary: The Doctor has always been dreaming of the day he'd see Rose Tyler again. He knew it was impossible. She was in a parallel world, hopefully having a fantastic life. But it was a nice dream anyway. So, when she turned up on the TARDIS, looking as young as ever, decades after he left her with his human counterpart, he was more than a bit surprised.





	1. Goodbyes

**Author's Note:**

> An Eleven/Rose reunion story I've been wanting to write for ages. A little change from canon that River doesn't exist in this verse, and Ten never met her in the library. 
> 
> Not because I hate River, but because that would mean the Doctor is cheating on her with Rose here, or at the least breaks her heart, and that is something I really don't want to write. She might turn up later on, but only as Amy and Rory's daughter, Melody.

"Alright Ponds, where to now? Another city on Earth? Or another country? Mexico, Germany, Norway? Oh no no no, no Norway don't like Norway. Not cool. How about another planet eh? Something incredible! Oh, I know! Abydos, beautiful leisure planet you're gonna love it!" The Doctor was jumping around the console, pulling levels and pressing buttons, as he piloted the TARDIS into the vortex. 

"That's sounds great Doctor, but I think Rory and I need a little sleep before the next adventure." said Amy. "Don't know about you, but we're exhausted." 

The Doctor looked over his companions and realised that they really did look tired a bit. 

"Oh, come on! You slept in London, that was barely about..." 

"20 hours ago?" interrupted Rory. " In case you forgot, Doctor, Amy and I are Humans. We need sleep." 

"Yes, I know, you lot sleep half of your life away! Seriously, so much wasted time. You barely live a century anyway!" muttered the Time Lord, causing Amy to roll her eyes, tiredly. 

"Yes, thank you Doctor. If you're done, Rory and I are off. See you in the morning." shouted Amy, already dragging her husband towards the corridor. 

"We're in a time machine Amelia, there is no morning!" he said, but the Ponds were already walking down the corridor towards their room, leaving the Doctor alone with his ship. 

 

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW 

 

Rose was quietly driving down the streets of London. It was still dark, she could only see a couple of people walking around. Her eyes drank in the familiar environment, knowing it was her last chance to memorise it. She’d been living in this world for 14 years, and it gave her so much pain, but also so much happiness, and Rose suddenly realised that she was going to miss it. Everything was so different from her original universe, but she got used to that a long time ago. 

She turned left, as she did so many times before, when she was still working full time in Torchwood, and parked next to the building, burying her face into her hands as the engine finally stopped. She was doing the right thing. She knew that. But it was still hard. Taking a deep breath, she got out of the car. 

A couple of minutes later she was already walking down the corridors, towards her old office. Torchwood was almost empty, so she didn’t expect to meet anyone, especially on this floor. She opened the door that led to her destination, taking a long look at the dimension cannon inside. A second later, she noticed, that she wasn’t alone. 

“Rose!” she heard a familiar voice and the next moment, two arms were around her, holding her tightly. 

“M... Mum?” Rose exclaimed, wrapping her mother into a hug. “What are you doing here?” 

“I wanted to see you one last time.” breathed Jackie softly, arms still around her daughter. 

"Oh Mum..." she murmured, sadly. “It’s okay, it’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay.” said Rose, leaning back a little to look into her mother’s eyes. They were filled with tears. “You have Tony and Pete, and you’re all going to be fine, right? 

Jackie nodded, her worried eyes looking deep into hers. 

“Yes, sweetheart of course. Don't worry about us. You have to go back, we know that. I... I know that.” she swallowed hard. “My little girl grew up.” 

Rose said her goodbyes to her family yesterday. They spent the whole day together. She, Pete, Jackie and her little brother. It was a day she would never forget, Rose was sure about that. They all knew it was the last one they could have together, as a family. 

“I’m going to miss you, Mum.” she said, trying to fight off her own tears. “I’m gonna miss you all, so much!” she was not going to cry. 

“We’ll miss you too sweetheart. And we will never forget you, I hope you know that.” Her mum said in a low voice. “And I am so, _so _proud of you.” She smiled at her daughter, looking like she was trying to memorise all the little details about her face. Then she took a look at the dimension cannon, next to them.__

____

____

“Are you sure it’s safe?” she asked. 

“Yes, I’m sure Mum. I... we fixed every problem with the... the Doctor.” answered Rose quietly, and Jackie nodded. “Alright then.” 

Her mother silently watched as Rose turned on the machine, as she did so many years before. A couple of minutes later she was ready to set off. She walked up to her then, taking a firm hold on her daughter’s hands. 

“Find that daft, old alien of yours for me, okay?” she said with a sad smile on her face. “Take care of each other, alright? You need him, and he needs you, trust me I know.” 

Rose squeezed her mother’s hand before answering. “We will Mum. I promise.” Releasing her hand, Rose took a step back, and she knew that it was the last time that she could look into her mother’s eyes. 

“I love you, Rose. Be careful.” 

“I love you Mum.” Rose was seriously fighting of the tears now. The situation reminded her another very sad goodbye that broke her heart, on the second worst day of her life. “Tell Tony and Pete that I love them alright?” 

She could already feel the familiar tightening in her chest, she hasn’t felt for over a decade, as the cannon started up. 

“Goodbye Mum.” 

“Goodbye sweetheart. Good luck.” 

Then she was gone. 

 

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW 

 

The Doctor has been tinkering around in the console room for an hour or so, when it happened. The ship started shaking. 

He didn’t do anything honest! He was just trying to fix some stuff on the TARDIS, and okay maybe he did hit her a couple of times, but only if it was absolutely necessary! Or when he felt like it. Anyway. He was pretty sure (about 97.6% sure), that the shaking was not his fault. 

He quickly stood up... and instantly regretted it, because his head promptly made acquaintance with something quite chimney that probably belonged to the TARDIS. He touched the back of his head, and realised it started bleeding a little. 

He spun around, making his way to the console, frantically trying to figure out the problem. Rough landings on the TARDIS were quite normal, but this was something else. Not to mention that the ship was in the vortex, just floating. He hastily checked the surface, searching for any kind of objects that could've hit the TARDIS. The tremor suddenly became worse, throwing the Doctor off of his feet, to the ground. 

Then it all stopped. 

The ship was back to normal, and nothing indicated that a second ago the whole room was about to turn upside down. 

“What the hell was that?” he yelled as he stood up. “That was not normal Old Girl, you hadn’t done that ever since...” he trailed off. _“Since we accidently ended up in Pete’s World with Rose and Mickey.” _He finished the sentence in his mind. Great. Give him guilt again. He hadn’t thought of Rose Tyler for at least... 10 minutes. Wow. That must be a record. Well, it was time to think of her again, although the TARDIS going crazy wasn’t exactly necessary for him to do that.__

____

____

“Alright, let’s try and avoid that next time okay, Sexy? There’s no need to...” he stopped talking, and for a second he was sure that his hearts stopped. Or maybe the world did. Next to the jump seat, about three meters away from him, he saw the last person he expected to see. Someone he’d been so sure was lost forever. 

 

Rose Tyler. 

 

His pink and yellow human was back. 

 

And she was unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! :D Hope you like this and it's not as sucks as I think it is. I know, I know it's a little messy and all, but I promise it will all make sense, once I posted the next few chapters.  
> I'm not a native english speaker (as you might have guessed, while reading this), so if something feels off, it's my fault, sorry. Feel free to correct me anytime.  
> Thank you for reading.


	2. Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose is back, the Doctor is worried, and the Ponds are curious.

For a second, the Doctor just stood there, staring. His usually so effective brain was struggling to comprehend the situation. Rose Tyler was there. Back in this universe. In the TARDIS. She was home. She came back to him again. How she managed it, he had no idea. He forced himself to think straight. Rose was here, but she wasn’t conscious. 

The urgency of all seemed to hit him, and in one motion he was kneeling next to her, desperately trying to find her pulse. He let out a relieved sigh when he felt the beating of her singular heart. Strong, but a bit too rapid for his liking. 

Still kneeling, he scooped her up into his arms, and gently touched her pale face. 

“Rose?” he breathed softly. “Rose wake up!” he said a little louder. A sudden wave of fear hit him. _What if she's not going to wake up? She's not supposed to be here at all! _“Wake up please!” he wasn’t going to lose her now! Frantically, he started searching for injuries on her body, desperately trying to figure out what was wrong with her, but he found nothing. He realised, with growing concern, that her skin felt way too warm for a human. He reached inside his pocket for his sonic screwdriver to scan her, but nothing seemed to be out of order, except for her temperature.__

__Then why wasn’t she waking up?_ _

__“Doctor?”_ _

__The sound didn’t come from Rose, but from behind him._ _

__“Doctor what happened? There was this shaking and then... oh my god who is she? Is she alright?” Amy was suddenly kneeling next to him._ _

__“I... I don’t know.” he said shakily. He could see a moment of surprise on Amy’s face out of the corner of his eye as she heard his tone of voice. “She... she’s not supposed to be here, she’s... I don’t know... Rose? Rose, for Rassilon’s sake wake up!”_ _

__“Do you know her?” asked Amy with wide eyes. “Where did she come from?”_ _

__“Yes, I do know her, and it doesn’t matter right now!” answered the Doctor impatiently. “I have to get her to the med bay.” Amy nodded quickly, shouting behind her shoulder for Rory, as the Doctor gently gathered her up in his arms_ _

__“He can help you figure out what’s wrong.” she said when the Time Lord looked at her. “He’s a nurse.”_ _

__“And I’m a Doctor” he answered, rushing out of the console room. He knew he was being rude a little ( _rude, and still not ginger _, he thought with a sad smile), but he was just too worried to care. Rose was the only thing that mattered right now.___ _

____He laid her down on the table, as carefully as he could, and he could hear the Ponds rushing into the room._ _ _ _

____“What’s happening?” panted Rory, a little out of breath. He looked like he was sleeping two minutes ago. He probably was. “Amy said there was someone...” she noticed Rose on the table, and rushed to her side, immediately switching into nurse mode. “What’s wrong with her?”_ _ _ _

____“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” murmured the Doctor who has already started the scanner._ _ _ _

____“She’s running a fever.” said Rory worriedly, touching her forehead. “She’s burning up Doctor!”_ _ _ _

____“I know, I know but that’s not why she’s unconscious!” the Doctor said frantically, throwing away the device in his hand. “There’s nothing physically wrong with her!” he exclaimed._ _ _ _

____“Doctor, your head is bleeding!” Amy shrieked._ _ _ _

____“Yes, I’m aware, thank you, I hit it when my ship went bonkers, but it doesn’t matter right now. I’m fine.”_ _ _ _

____“But...”_ _ _ _

____“We have bigger problems at the moment Amy!” barked the Doctor, and Amy had to agree, so she reluctantly let it go._ _ _ _

____"But how did she get here?” asked Rory._ _ _ _

____“She just... appeared” answered the Doctor hesitantly, putting a cold cloth on Rose’s forehead._ _ _ _

____“Appeared?” Amy looked puzzled. “What do you mean appeared?”_ _ _ _

____The Doctor took a deep breath closing his eyes, as he tried to sort through his thoughts._ _ _ _

____“You know her.” he heard Amy’s gentle voice. It wasn’t a question. He opened his eyes to look at her._ _ _ _

____“I do.” he said. “I... we used to travel together. We were...” he trailed off, shaking his head._ _ _ _

____“Do you know how she got here?” asked Rory._ _ _ _

____“From a parallel universe. Well, probably” he said._ _ _ _

____“Parallel universe? Is that a thing?”_ _ _ _

____“It is. She was trapped in one, back when she was travelling with me. We were separated.” he thought he better leave out the part where she came back to him and he left her in the other universe again, with another him. Even if he only did it because he wanted her happy._ _ _ _

____And how did she land in the TARDIS anyway? She couldn’t manage that years ago when she was trying to find him. It took years. And even then, she could never manage to actually find the TARDIS in the right time and space. So how..._ _ _ _

____“That’s it!” he exclaimed loudly, making both Amy and Rory wince._ _ _ _

____“What?” they asked in unison._ _ _ _

____“Rose has jumped through universes before, and she was fine. More than once, but never like this. She never landed in the TARDIS before, especially not while she was in the vortex.”_ _ _ _

____“Meaning?”_ _ _ _

____“Meaning that she wasn’t only pulled through a hole from another universe, but she was also pulled through the Time Vortex, into a big, complicated space time event, also known as my TARDIS! Why didn’t I think of that before?“ he cried, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand._ _ _ _

____“Yeah, that’s great Doctor, but what does that mean?” Amy was getting inpatient._ _ _ _

____“It means,” he sighed, “that she’s human. And that is something, a human body should never experience. Well, she always did have thing for doing things with the vortex she wasn’t meant to be.” he let out a weak laugh, but he rather felt like crying. “Her body is exhausted. Completely. She won’t wake up for a while yet. She needs to rest.”_ _ _ _

____“But she’s going to be fine?” Rory asked, looking relieved. “She just has to sleep?”_ _ _ _

____“Yes.” answered the Doctor, with a wide smile on his face, suddenly looking years younger than a minute before. “Yes, she just has to sleep.” He could hardly believe it. Rose was going to be fine. He felt a spark of hope, rising inside him again, and the sudden happiness he felt, made his hearts pound harder._ _ _ _

____The Ponds could probably see the joy that lit up in his eyes, because they shared a smile._ _ _ _

____He looked down at Rose, his hand gently cupping her cheek, as he leaned down to tenderly kiss her warm forehead. “You’re going to be fine. I’ll take care of you.” he knew that the sudden display of affection was not something the Ponds were used to seeing when it came to him, but he hasn’t seen this beautiful human for years, and he just couldn’t bring himself to care._ _ _ _

____He was still looking at her, so he couldn’t see the way Amy reached for her husband’s hand who took it immediately. He also couldn’t see the tears that welled up in her eyes._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____“God, Rory. Did you see his eyes when he realised, she’s gonna be okay?” Amy sat down next to his husband, reaching for the cup of tea, that he prepared for her. “I don’t think I have ever seen him like this before.” she said, her voice is full of wonder._ _ _ _

____They were in the kitchen, making a cup of tea for themselves and the Doctor. After they’d made sure that Rose is not in immediate danger, he mostly calmed down, but the new light, that lit up in his eyes, didn’t disappear. He had gathered her up in his arms again, to take her to her room, so she could be more comfortable. He hasn’t returned yet, and the Ponds wanted to give him a moment with Rose._ _ _ _

____Rory had a feeling that he wouldn’t leave her bedside for a while. The Time Lord’s tea was getting cold, but he didn’t want to bother him yet. He probably had a lot to think about._ _ _ _

____“Neither have I.” he answered, taking a sip from his tea._ _ _ _

____“Are you sure she’ll be alright?”_ _ _ _

____“She should be. There were no physical signs of injury or any kind of illness. And her temperature should be going down now.” He replied, trying to sound reassuring. “And if the Doctor is right, and let’s be honest he usually is...”_ _ _ _

____“Don’t say that when he can hear you, his ego is already big enough as it is.” snorted Amy,_ _ _ _

____“True. But anyway, if what he said is true, then she’ll probably be fine in a few hours, when her body gained some energy. We just need to wait.” he sighed._ _ _ _

____Amy nodded at that, taking a sip from her own tea._ _ _ _

____“Do you think...” she started, “... who do you think she is? To him, I mean.”_ _ _ _

____“Someone important. Obviously.”_ _ _ _

____“Obviously. It’s just...” she took a deep breath. “I know he had people to travel with him before. And he was probably close to most of them. But he never talks about them. He never even mentioned Rose, when he clearly...”_ _ _ _

____“Loves her?” finished the sentence Rory, when Amy stopped. She nodded. Rory shrugged._ _ _ _

____“It’s probably hard for him Amy. If I’d be 900 years old, with tones of lost friends, I probably wouldn’t want to talk about them either.” he admitted. “Memories can hurt.”_ _ _ _

____“Yeah...” Amy agreed in a low voice. “But he shouldn’t keep it all inside.”_ _ _ _

____“That’s just how he is, we both know that.”_ _ _ _

____“You’re right.” she conceded after a moment of silence. “That’s just how he is.”_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____The Doctor carefully put Rose into her bed, pulling the covers over her. She was still not moving, but her breathing was even, and her heart rate dropped back to normal. He pulled a chair to the bed, and sat down, taking her hand in his._ _ _ _

____He wondered what happened to her and the metacrisis. They were supposed to live a fantastic life together with Rose’s family, yet she was here, and she didn’t look older than 20, which meant that it hasn’t been as long for her, as for him. Oh, he was happy that she came back, happier than he’d been for years. But with her coming back, the possibility of watching her die was back too. That has been one of his biggest fear when they travelled together, and one of the reasons he left her. Mostly he just wanted her happy though. With or without him._ _ _ _

____He suddenly remembered the fact that he has regenerated since the last time she’d seen him. How would she react to that? She accepted it pretty quickly last time, but everything was different now. He was different._ _ _ _

____He heard a knock on the door, and he looked up._ _ _ _

____“It’s open.” he said quietly, and a second later Amy stepped into the room with a cup of tea in her hand, and a hesitant smile on her face._ _ _ _

____“Hi.” she whispered, offering him the cup. “How is she?”_ _ _ _

____“The same.” he replied, tiredly. He took the tea, taking a small sip, before setting it on the nightstand. “She probably won’t wake up for another 10 hours or so.”_ _ _ _

____“You should take a rest until then. Have a shower. We should also take care of that head of yours.” said Amy, but the Doctor was already shaking his head._ _ _ _

____“No, I want to be here when she wakes up. And I’m a time lord, that wound has almost healed already.”_ _ _ _

____“You just said that she’ll be asleep for another ten hours.” she tried to reason with him._ _ _ _

____“I said probably. I’m pretty sure it was probably. ’Probably won’t wake up for another 10 hours’, that’s what I said. You need to pay attention to the details Amy, the sentences will have a different meaning if you just casually leave some words out.” he answered stubbornly._ _ _ _

____“Yes, of course.” she gibed. “You’re rude when you’re worried, you know that? I mean more than usual.” she said, but there wasn’t any anger in her voice. “I’m sure you were never this rude to Rose.” she teased._ _ _ _

____“Oh, believe me I was. Still, she endured. Oh, and scolded at me sometimes when I tipped over a line. She could be quite terrifying when she wanted to. Gets it from her mother.” he chuckled. “You’re going to like her. Both of you.” he touched a small section of her blonde hair, putting it behind her ear._ _ _ _

____Amy looked at him for a long moment._ _ _ _

____“You love her.” she declared, and the Doctor looked at her startled. “Oh, come on, it’s obvious, you can tell me.” he looked away, his eyes fixed on her formal companion._ _ _ _

____“I shouldn’t.”_ _ _ _

____“What?” she asked, puzzled._ _ _ _

____“I shouldn’t tell you. She should be the first to hear it.”_ _ _ _

____“You never told her.” she breathed._ _ _ _

____“Well, not as such as... me, as in... I mean yeah, _I _never said the words, no.” he mumbled.___ _ _ _

______“You idiot.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Guilty as charged.” he admitted. “I... I met her right after the Time War you know.” he started hesitantly, and Amy looked surprised at the willingly given information. “I was... a mess really. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go on anymore.” his companion winced, hearing the pain in his voice. “And then... she was there.” he smiled._ _ _ _ _ _

______“How did you meet her?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Saved her life, blew up her job.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Course you did.” she laughed softly._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Took her hand and told her to run. And we never stopped.” his voice was full of joy now._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I told her that my planet was gone. That I was the last. There’s no one else, only me. And she said,” his smile grew, and his eyes lit up at the memory. “she said; there’s me.” she gently touched Rose’s cheek. “And she made me better. Promised me forever, said she’d always come back to me.”_ _ _ _ _ _

_______She kept her promise _, Amy thought, smiling at the alien beside him. A long silence followed, but it wasn’t awkward. It was the kind of silence you like to have around you.__ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Finally, Amy took a deep breath, taking a step back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I leave to two alone then. She went to the door, looking back once more, before opening it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Doctor?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yeah?” he looked at her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’m glad she’s back.” she said in low voice, and a small, but sincere smile formed on the Doctor’s lips._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Me too, Amy. Me too.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________DWDWDWDWDWDWDW_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The first thing that Rose felt, as she slowly fought her way back to awareness, was a light pressure on her hand, that felt strangely familiar. She realised she was in bed, and that there was someone else in the room with her. She tried to open her eyes, but couldn’t quite manage it. Then the events of the last few days came back to her, remembering her mother sad, but hopeful eyes as they said goodbye, and the pulling of the dimension cannon right after, as she ceased to exist in that universe._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Her eyes popped open without any effort at that thought, but she had to close them a second later, because of the sudden brightness that penetrated her vision._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Ro-Rose?” she heard a stammered voice somewhere above her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She looked by her side, blinking slowly, trying to find the source of the sound. Her vision cleared, and suddenly she could see, looking into a pair of bright green eyes, that she had never seen before. They were filled with concern, and something else she hadn’t seen in anyone’s eyes for years._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Rose?” he said again, with a particular tone of voice, and she could finally make out the features of him, and the expression on his face. She knew this man. She’d never seen this face before, but she knew him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Doctor.” she whispered with a hoarse voice, reaching out for him with her free hand, cupping his cheek. She saw his eyes widen as she said his name, like he didn’t expect her to instantly recognise him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Rose tried to sit up a little, but suddenly she felt dizzy and her breath caught up in her throat at the sudden discomfort. The Doctor quickly reached out to still her, pulling Rose closer to him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Hey, it’s okay I’ve got you. Just breathe okay?” he tried to sound calm, but she could detect the alarm in his voice. “Breathe Rose.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She took a deep breath and let it out looking straight into his eyes, trying to pull her thoughts together._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Hello.” she said shakily, and the Doctor grinned at her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Hello.” he chuckled, and Rose was suddenly hit by the realisation, that she did it. She came back to him. The Doctor was right there in front of her. She felt tears in her eyes, and she smiled at him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I came back.” she whispered, reaching out for him again, and suddenly his arms were around her, holding like he’s never letting go. She hugged him back, wrapping her arms around his neck, and the Doctor pressed his lips to the top her head._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You did. You came back to me Rose Tyler.” god, her name still rolled on his tongue the same way._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I missed you.” she murmured next to his ear, and she felt his arms tightening around her waist._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I missed you too. God, Rose I missed you _so much _.” he said, his voice cracking on the last two words, and her heart throbbed with happiness at his admission. She reluctantly pulled away, to look at his face, taking in the changes.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You regenerated.” she said, and he nodded, with a flash of hesitation in his eyes. But she only smiled at him. “Still not ginger I see.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He smiled, and his tense shoulders relaxed at that statement._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Nope. Brown again. It’s getting boring, really.” his smile dropped and suddenly he looked very serious. “Rose how...”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Not now. Please.” he opened his mouth to protest but she interrupted. “Later, okay? I promise I’ll tell you everything, just not right now, alright?” she pleaded, and the Doctor nodded reluctantly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Okay. Not now. But later.” she nodded, he pulled her closer, resting his forehead against her own, and she closed her eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It’s good to see you.” said the Doctor softly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It’s good to see you too.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Even though I...”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You’re still the Doctor.” Rose interjected, and he felt a surge of happiness in his hearts._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He leaned back, looking deep into her hazel eyes. He cupped her cheeks gently, and her gaze dropped to his mouth for second, before jumping back to stare into his eyes again. Slowly, very slowly, he leaned in, giving her the opportunity to stop him in case she wanted to, but she didn’t. His lips softly touched hers and she let out a quiet sigh, kissing him back. He pushed a little closer, and Rose nipped at his bottom lip. The Doctor angled his head to deepen the kiss. She remembered the last time he kissed her, exactly the same way as now. Only, it wasn’t him. It was the other Doctor, the one with the single human heart, who promised to grow old with her. She eased them out of the kiss, before she could start panicking, and the Doctor looked at her worriedly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You okay?” he asked, sounding a bit breathless._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yeah. Of course.” Rose smiled at him, but she could see that he wasn’t entirely convinced. She buried her face into his chest, and he held her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“How long was I out?” she asked, after a couple of minutes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Fourteen hours.” answered the Doctor and Rose leaned back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“What?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“The jump you did was very dangerous Rose. How did you even know how to locate the TARDIS like that? We were in mid-flight.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I had help.” Rose said quietly, frowning as she repeated the sentence inside her head. “We?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The Doctor smiled. “You still don’t miss a trick, do you? We, as in me, Amy and Rory. They travel with me. Have been for a while.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You haven’t been alone then.” Rose said looking relieved. “I was always worried about that.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Well, I did travel alone for a while after...” he trailed off, clearing his throat. “After all that happened. But then I regenerated and met Amy. Rory tagged along later too.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I’m glad. You shouldn’t be alone.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yeah, you’re right.” The Doctor admitted, and Rose was surprised at the agreement. “They good for me. You’re gonna love them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Can I meet them?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Of course. Think you’re well enough to stand?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Think so.” she said, and the Doctor helped her to he feet. “Yeah I’m fine.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Let’s go then.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________She grinned at him widely, her tongue peeking through her lips._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Allons-y, Doctor.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading :) I hope you liked this chapter, and thank you for those who let kudos on this story. <3 lots of love for you.


	3. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose finally meets Amy and Rory. They get to know each other a bit.  
> Also, the Doctor wants to go somewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely sure about this chapter, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't make it better. Sorry. :/ Anyway I hope you'll still enjoy it :))  
> Rory has more role in this chapter, because i adore him, really. He even gets a POV, which he deserved tbh.  
> And I promise that Rose will talk about what happened in the parallel world. Eventually.

The corridors still looked the same. _Exactly_ the same. Maybe that’s the reason why Rose was so surprised, when she first laid her eyes on the console room, after all those years.

“You redecorated.” she whispered, looking around in the big, orange room. She walked down to the console and put her hand on it, stroking it gently, the way she used to. _Oh, such a long time ago._

The Doctor smiled at her when he saw what she was doing, with a distant look in his eyes.

 _“Rassilon, she still looks the same.”_ he thought fondly, but Rose missed his expression, as she was still occupied with the TARDIS.

“Yeah, I did. She kinda blew up when I regenerated.” he said casually, and Rose shot him a worried look.

“What? How?”

He shrugged. “It was a strong one.” he told her, but Rose still looked at him the same way, and he knew that look. He quickly tried to change the topic. “So, do you like it?”

Rose stayed quiet for a moment, probably aware of his intension to distract her from the matter. She knew him way to well. But after a second, she seemed to decide, and let it drop.

“Well, I liked the coral.” she said, and she let out a chuckle when she saw him pout. “But yeah, I like this one too. It looks good.” she continued, and looked up at the ceiling. “You’re still beautiful, girl.” she murmured to the TARDIS, and the ship hummed, sounding more than a little pleased at the compliment. 

The Doctor felt a sudden flare of joy. He always loved the way Rose interacted with his ship. It was easier for her than the others, he knew that. Ever since his pink and yellow human has looked into the heart of the TARDIS, it became much easier for them to interact with each other. They formed a bond, not as strong as the one he shared with the TARDIS, obviously, but it was still something he admired. Rose came a long way from the first day, when she freaked out at the thought of the ship being inside her head. She had a connection with the time machine, and he hadn’t realised how much he missed that, until now.

He had the strongest urge to kiss her again, but he remembered the flash of hesitation in her movements, right before she pulled away, and he resisted it. There was no reason to rush things. And he certainly wouldn’t force himself to her if she wasn’t ready. That was the last thing he wanted.

Noticing his silence, Rose turned around, and the Doctor promptly pulled himself back to the present day.

“Is there anything else that changed?” she asked, and the Doctor almost shook his head, before remembering that there was in fact something else.

“Oh, yeah I almost forgot.” he said, pulling out his sonic from his pocket. Rose’s eyes widened. 

“Your sonic screwdriver!”

“Yep, you got that right Rose Tyler. It’s green now.” he grinned, and he pushed the button on the sonic. demonstrating the fact. ”What do you think?”

“It’s... different.”

“Good different or bad different?” he asked trying to hold back a grin.

Her eyes lit up at the memory. Or maybe they lit up at the fact that he still remembered that conversation. Like he could ever forget that day.

“Just different.” Her lips curved upwards a little, seemingly trying to fight off a smile herself.

“Was that...” he started teasingly, “a smile?”

“No.” 

“That was a smile.”

“No it wasn’t.” she giggled. 

“You smiled!”

“No, I didn’t.” she paused. “Okay maybe I did.”

He hugged her then. Why? Because he wanted to. Because he could. Because he missed her terribly, and he wasn’t sure he would be able to let her go ever again. Because she came back again, like she always did. Because she promised him forever, and kept that promise. 

Because he loved her.

And she returned the hug, throwing herself into his arms. The Doctor felt the beating of her heart, pounding rapidly in her chest, as she slid into his embrace with no hesitation. They stood there for a minute, holding each other closely, before they pulled back, looking deeply each other's eyes.

“Let’s find those two.” said the Doctor quietly. “They probably worried sick about you now. I said ten hours to Amy. That was fifteen hours ago.”

“Okay.” Rose answered, and he took her hand.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

They found Amy and Rory in the library, and Rose observed them closely. They cuddled up to each other, Amy’s head rested on Rory’s chest, and they were reading a book she couldn’t recognise. They looked like... a couple? Was the Doctor travelling with a couple? She grinned inwardly at the thought. Oh, this was brilliant.

They both looked up from the book, when they heard them approaching, and their expression quickly changed from concerned to relieved.

“Hi. It’s good to see you awake.” said Rory as they sat up, smiling kindly. “Rose, right?

“Yeah.” replied Rose, actually feeling a little timid. “Hello. You two must be Rory and Amy.”

“Yup. That’s us.” beamed Amy, looking quite happy at the sight of her. 

The Doctor let out a relieved sigh. 

“Great y’all getting along, brilliant. One less thing to worry about.” he said as he sat down, and Rose felt a bit of guilt in her chest when she remembered her first meeting with Sarah-Jane. All those stupid arguments with her at beginning seemed even more stupid now, looking back. But they became friends afterwards, and that’s what matters.

“Oh, shut up, you.” Amy scolded him, but she was still smiling. “It’s great to finally meet you. This one has been a nightmare ever since you came back.” she said pointing at the Doctor, and the Time Lord made a face. Rose laughed.

“Oh, really? I can imagine.” she sat down next to the Doctor, grinning, but he ignored the teasing face.

“Okay, so. Rose Tyler, Amy and Rory Pond. Ponds, this is Rose Tyler.”

“Ponds?” Rose asked curiously.

“Well, it’s actually Williamses,” started Rory, “considering she’s the one who put on my name when we got married...”

“Don’t listen to him Rose it’s _Pond_.” Rory let out a defeated sigh, as if it wasn’t the first time, he lost this argument against the Doctor.

“Wait, you’re married? Seriously?” Rose cheered. “I seem to remember _someone,_ forcefully declaring that he does not travel with families under any circumstances.” the Doctor glared at her, but she could tell that he wasn’t actually angry at all.

“Really, Doctor you made an exception for us, that’s soo kind of you!”

“Oi, they weren’t married when they first travelled with me, okay?” he yelled somewhat defensively, and Rose had to laugh. God, she laughed a lot today, her face was going to go numb if she kept that up. Although, she hadn’t really had many reasons to smile in the last decade or so, apart from his little brother, so that was probably a good thing. The Ponds were laughing too, so they missed the shadow that crossed over her face, but she was pretty sure that the Doctor noticed. He could be very observant when he wanted to, especially when it came to her. She looked up and saw him staring at her.

“You okay?” he asked softly, and the Ponds stopped laughing when they heard it.

“Y-yes. Of course.” Rose replied, trying to sound convincing, but she could feel that she failed. She smiled at him, and he put a comforting arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. His touch was so reassuring, and Rose wondered why they didn’t do that the moment she sat down next to him. She leaned into his touch looking up at him.

“I’m fine. I promise.” she whispered, and the Doctor gave a hesitant nod, kissing her forehead.

“Okay.” he said gently. “But you’ll tell me if you’re not, right?” she gave him a smile, and nodded, looking into his green eyes. They were beautiful. No matter how he looked like, he always seemed to end up with beautiful eyes. She made an effort not to stare at them for eternity. 

“Good.” he murmured, leaning back a little, but he kept his arm firmly around her, for which she was grateful. She looked back at the Ponds, and noticed the concern in their eyes, mixed with wonder. The latter wasn’t directed at her.

“I’m okay.” she repeated, just for the sake of the Ponds, letting her head fall on the Doctor’s shoulder. She wasn’t lying. She was fine. Really. Physically.

“So,” she started, trying to start again the conversation. “How long have you been travelling with him?”

“Interesting question.” said Rory. ”He met Amy when she was seven.”

“No way!”

“He did! I was at home, alone with a crack on my wall when he turned up...

DWDWDWDWDWDW

Rory had to admit. Amy was right. The Doctor was definitely in love with this girl.

It’s not like he ever disagreed with that statement of course, but still. He was sure about it now.

When Amy came back from Rose’s room the night before, she had tears in her eyes. His first thought was that the Doctor said something to her that made her cry. (He later felt a little guilty for that. Sure, the Doctor could be a prat sometimes but he wouldn’t intentionally hurt Amy’s feelings like that, even if he was upset.) He frantically asked her what’s wrong, but Amy just shook her head at the question. Later, she admitted that the Doctor had told her some things about Rose, and it got her a little emotional.

“You should have seen him Rory. When he was talking about her, getting lost in all the memories. I have never seen him like that before. He was just... so happy.” she’d took a deep breath after that. “I think he’s in love with her.”

Rory knew love of course. He had loved Amy, ever since they were kids, always hanging around her, never dating anyone, even when she was kissing other people at parties in silly dresses. He never thought she would actually want him, but for him, she was the only one out there. He was always there for her, even when she wouldn’t stop talking about her imaginary friend, which drived him bonkers. He would do anything for that girl. 

Even jump into a time machine, with her actually real imaginary friend, travelling through time and space. Which wasn’t a bad decision at all, considering. He really enjoyed travelling with her and the Doctor after a while. Especially after he realised that the alien won’t stand between the two of them, and they don’t share any kind of romantic feelings. That was a good day.

The point is, Rory knew. He knew how it feels like to truly love someone. And today, sitting in the library, with his wife, the Doctor and Rose, telling stories and jokes about each other for hours, he saw it. He saw the look in his eyes when he looked at her, the way she held onto his hand, how they seemed to ignore personal space, even after being apart for so long (or maybe that’ exactly why they did it), and the biggest evidence; the Doctor’s voice when he talked to her. He had this tone of voice. Rory decided to call it his Rose-Voice. It was gentle, and smooth and it carried a sort of reassurance in it. He never talked to anyone like that. Never. Only Rose.

To put it plainly, the Doctor was in love. And what’s even better, he thought, Rose loved him too. He looked at them, and he saw the kind of love he always felt for Amy. And it made Rory happy.

The Doctor deserved to be happy too, for once.

Several hours later, when they already knew the story of how the Doctor met Rose, how they saved the world, how he took her home a year late (she got very quiet at the mention of her mother though), the story of Charles Dickens, and a long explanation on why the Doctor’s appearance was described so differently in some stories, and after Amy and him shared countless stories too about statues and interesting honeymoons, they eventually got rid of the Doctor sending him to take a long shower.

“Seriously though,” said Amy. “we came back to the TARDIS after saving the world, Rory and I went to sleep, you spent hours repairing useless stuff on your ship...”

“Oi!”

“and, THEN Rose showed up and that was like a day ago, so you seriously need a shower.”

“Thanks Amelia.”

“Really though, have Rose even eaten since she’d came back?” interrupted Rory, which made the Doctor stop in his tracks, to look at her.

“Oh, Rose I’m so sorry...” he started with his Rose-Voice, but she interrupted.

“It’s fine, Doctor. I wasn’t hungry. I slept mostly. You didn’t.” she sounded grateful, but not surprised. He knew the Doctor. He barely slept anyway, and he was probably happy to stay awake for Rose if it meant that he could see her waking up. “You go and have your shower, we’ll find the kitchen.”

The Doctor reluctantly obeyed, and the three of them went to find where the TARDIS has put the kitchen this time. Rory made sure that Rose ate nutritional and filling food, that she really needed. He was a nurse after all. He mentioned this while they ate, and Rose got really excited about it.

“You’re a nurse? That’s fantastic!” she grinned. “You haven’t had enough doctors telling you what to do at home?”  she asked and Rory smiled.

“Oh, you have no idea.” 

He desperately wanted to ask Rose how she got back, but Amy was quicker.

“So, I get that you got stuck in another universe, but how did you find your back if even the Doctor wasn’t able to?” Rory saw Rose wince at his wife’s question, and immediately knew that it was a wrong question to ask. Rose casted her eyes down, looking at the food in front of her.

“It’s a long story.” she said sadly. “I’d rather not... talk about it right now. Sorry, I just...I can’t.” her voice cracked, and Rory saw tears welling up in her eyes, before she blinked them back.

“It’s fine, Rose.” Amy told her quickly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...”

She trailed off, when they heard the familiar footsteps of the Doctor, echoing through the corridor. A moment later he opened the door, his hair still damp from his shower, and grinned at them.

“Fancy a trip?”

“What? Now?” asked Rory puzzled.

“Oh, yes.” it wasn’t the Doctor who said that. It was Rose. She jumped out of her chair, looking like she’s ready to explore the world, and Rory blinked. Two seconds ago, she was on the edge of breaking down. Now she seemed to be bursting with energy. It was so very... Doctorish, when he thought about it. Rose joined the Doctor at the door.

“Where’re we going?” she asked, grinning widely, and the Doctor’s face lit up.

“Barcelona!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Comment if you want, I don't mind, in fact I love comments. :) <3


	4. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a nice (well, relatively nice) visit to Barcelona, the team decides that it’s time to go to bed, but Rose can’t seem to escape from the haunting memories in her nightmares, quite as well as she does awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took soo long!! It's been a messy week. But it's done! And it long! And hopefully good!  
> Although, I warn you, this one got angsty as hell, very quickly.

“Why would we go to Barcelona?” Rory asked, as he tried to take a hold on the console, hoping to avoid falling to the ground from the intense rocking of the TARDIS. Amy was grapping the jump seat firmly, probably for the same reason, while the Doctor piloted the ship. Rose was standing next to him, grinning widely.  


“Not the city Barcelona Rory, the planet Barcelona.” she shouted happily. “They have dogs with no noses.”

“Oh, yes! Dogs with no noses! Never gets old!” laughed the Doctor, right before he pulled a lever that made the TARDIS rocking even more violently. The companions almost lost their balance, barely able to hold on.

“Oh, I’ve missed this! Even if you still can’t drive.”

“Oi! I can drive!”

“The evidence says otherwise.” murmured Amy. “Seriously, do you even know how this ship works properly?”

“I have you know Pond, that she was designed for six pilots! Which Rose knows very well if I recall correctly.” countered the Doctor. “She just decided not to mention that fact for some reason.”

The blonde woman just grinned at him. “Oh, I knew you’d bring it up soon enough.” she shot a look at Amy. “That’s his favourite excuse for his poor driving skills.” Amy made an amused face at that.

“Oh god, what am I gonna do with you two? Now that you’re both in the same room, I won’t have a single peaceful moment in my life.” groaned the Time Lord, and Rory thought he was probably right about that one.

The landing was everything but smooth, however the shaking slowly ceased, and the engines stopped. The Doctor pushed one last button before stepping towards the door.

“Come on then! We’re here! Barcelona! Tuesday, 6 PM, October 5006! Mostly human population, two moons, 26 hours in a day!” he rambled, as they stepped out to the planet. He said some other things too, but Rose didn’t seem to hear it. She slowly looked around marvelling at the bright blue sky and the long, greenish grass which covered the field they’ve parked on. The place was surrounded by mountains, and some houses were clearly visible from where they stood. The buildings were built strangely, they looked like something a hobbit would live in, from Lord of the Rings. The whole place was similar to the Shire actually. It all looked peaceful and amazing.

“...so what do you think?” finished the Doctor the speech, spinning around to look at them but his eyes searched Rose’s as he waited for the reaction.”

“It’s... amazing.” breathed Rose. Her eyes still taking in the environment around them. “I haven’t been on another planet for a looong time.” she let out a chuckle.

“Worth the wait then?” asked the Doctor.

“Absolutely.”

“It really is beautiful.” said Amy.

“Well, come on! Let’s have a look around.”  exclaimed the Doctor, and he took Rose’s hand.

DWDWDWDWDW

The Doctor was most definitely happy. He never thought he would actually have the chance to take Rose Tyler to Barcelona. He always wanted to, back in the old times, but it just never happened for some reason. But he wouldn’t miss his chance now. The light in Rose’s eyes was back. She looked exactly like the first time when he had taken her to another planet. She was full of excitement and curiosity as she walked on the strange land. He knew it was a good decision to take her to this place.

“Guys look!” Amy said, and Rory stumbled back with a short scream as a dog jumped in front of them. 

“Oh my god, it’s so adorable!” Amy exclaimed, as Rose kneeled down to pet it.

“It really has no nose. I thought you were kidding!” Rose said happily and the dog licked her hand, making her laugh. She was absolutely beautiful like this. Well... she was always beautiful, but still.

“Off course I wasn’t kidding!”

“You are absolutely adorable.” said Amy again, kneeling down to pet the dog herself. It looked pleased at the compliment. 

“She’s a girl.” the Doctor told them. “You can see it from her ears. The male has smaller ones, and they not as pointy.” The girls were occupied with the animal for a couple of more minutes, before the Doctor talked again. “Alright let’s go. I have something I want to show you lot. And you’re not keeping the dog, Rose. If I couldn’t keep Arthur...”

“He was a horse! He wouldn’t even fit in the TARDIS!”

“A horse named Arthur? What idiot names a horse Arthur?” Amy made a face.

“It’s a good name for a horse!”  yelled the Doctor offended, and Rose rolled her eyes.

They ended up next to a wonderful lake. It was big, the water looked gorgeous, and with all the mountains surrounding them, the whole thing was absolutely stunning. The water was a little greener than one from planet Earth would be used to, but the color matched the environment perfectly.

“You should probably not swim in it though.” said the Doctor casually, and Rory frowned.

“You took us to a lake that is poisoning?”

“It’s not poisoning! Just... it might turn out to be a little unhealthy for humans, that’s all.” Rose nodded.

“Of course.” 

They spent the whole day at the place. It was huge, and full of life. The animals on Barcelona were truly remarkable. All sorts of different shapes and species you would never find on Earth. The four of them explored the planet for hours without any incidents. Rose ended up on a cliff with the Doctor, which had a great view to the whole valley, while the Ponds went to somewhere else. They were probably kissing or something, the Doctor thought, but he knew deep down that they wanted to give him and Rose some alone time together. That’s how they ended up on a big blanket (that the Doctor had pulled out from his bigger on the inside pockets), lying next to each other, just enjoying the view. It was so similar to when they went to New Earth, and the Doctor tried not to smile at the memory. Apparently, he failed.

“What are you smiling at?” asked Rose from beside him. He looked at her.

“Oh, you know, I was just thinking.”

“Hmm... dangerous thing for you to do. Sure you alright?” she said playfully, and he let out a chuckle. “What were you thinking about?”

“Remember New Earth?” Rose’s eyes lit up.

“Of course. Our second date.” 

“Oh yeah? Date?”

“Yep.” they fell quiet for a few minutes, and he hesitantly touched her hand on the blanket, making her look up. 

“I went back there you know. Once. With Martha. We got into some trouble. She was kidnapped.” Rose’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

“Yeah...it turned out alright at the end. It usually does.” he took a deep breath, and let it out. “Usually.” Rose looked into his eyes for a moment, then moved to sit up properly, taking his hand into hers.

“I’m sorry.” she said.

“About what?” he asked, stunned.

“Everything. Everything that happened to you while I wasn’t here. I’m sorry that you had to be alone.” she paused a second before continuing. “And I’m so sorry about Donna.”

“You... you know about that?” he stuttered, and Rose nodded sadly. “How?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter Rose, of course it does.” Rose looked away, and he touched her chin to gently turn her face back towards him. She must have seen something in her eyes, because her breath hitched.

“Doctor...” she breathed.

“Rose Tyler.”  he replied softly. “So much had happened since you left.”

“Tell me.” it wasn’t a demand, but a plea.

“It’s not all good. Most of it aren’t, really.”

“I rather you tell me, than keep it all inside.”

“Yeah. I know the feeling.” she opened her mouth, then closed it, seemingly unsure what to say to that. “I don’t want to ruin the mood though. It’s been such a good day.”

“We’re already talking about it Doctor.” she pointed out, and he let out a sigh. 

“Yeah you’re right. Where shall I start then?”

DWDWDWDWDWDW

He told her a lot. About what happened on Mars. How he said goodbye to Donna. How he regenerated. She held his hand through the whole story, her heart breaking for her Doctor. He’s been through so much while she was gone. Rose tried to blink back the tears, but she wasn’t quite able to. She felt his hand brushing away a tear from her cheeks.

“I’m sorry.” she whispered, but he was shaking his head before she could finish the sentence.

“It’s not your fault.” he replied reassuringly, and she made a half-hearted smile.

“I’m still sorry.” she touched his cheek with her hand, and he closed his eyes, leaning into her touch. She yet again, tried to comprehend the fact that she could do this. She could touch him, talk to him, be with him...it still felt like a dream. Because she dreamed about it oh, so many times. But this, this was real. 

_It’s real. I’m back. And I’m never leaving him again._

He was looking at her now, with a sort of understanding in his eyes. She opened her mouth to say something...

And suddenly found herself crushing into the Doctor’s lap. For a second, Rose thought he went for a hug, but then she realised that the ground beneath them wasn’t quite steady anymore. She tried to stand up, and the Doctor did the same, but the ground shook once more, and she almost lost her balance. The Doctor caught a hold on her shoulder, steadying her, before she could fall over.

“What’s happening?” 

“I don’t know, but we better get out of here quickly.” replied the Time Lord, and they hurried down to the lake. “Ponds!”

“Right here!” came Rory’s voice from the lake, and they spun around to see them running towards them. The ground swayed dangerously under their feet, and the Ponds almost collapsed into Rose and the Doctor.

“What the hell is happening?” shouted Amy. “I thought we came here to relax? You can’t even vacation right, can you?” she was talking to the Doctor.

“Well, how was I supposed to know?” he exclaimed.

“You could have checked the weather in the TARDIS.” Rose pointed out.

“Oh, okay so it’s my fault!

“Ummm guys, I don’t mean to be a bother, but we’re in the middle of an earthquake here!” Rory interrupted impatiently, and the Doctor looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Earthquake?!” he shrilled. “Did you hear what he just said Rose? Earthquake? How could we be in an earthquake, when we’re not even on earth?!”

“Okay, I don’t care what it’s called, but we have to get back to the TARDIS, right now!” yelled Amy, and she could barely finish, before a huge rock crashed into the ground, right next to them.

“Run!” Rose shouted as she took the Doctor’s hand and they all took off to find the TARDIS, while trying to bypass the things falling from above, and the trees that couldn’t hold on, from falling on their heads. The people of Barcelona have pulled back into their homes, and suddenly Rose understood why all the buildings were made that particular way. No more dogs were running around anymore.

She ducked away from a piece of crag, and jumped over a tree, when she felt the Doctor’s hand pushing on her shoulder and they both fell to the ground. Dread filled her stomach for a moment, and a memory flashed through her mind, but the Doctor was already getting up. He was fine. She looked over to where she had been a second ago, only to find a big hole on the ground created by something she didn’t quite have a name for, but it looked like a decoration from one of the local’s gardens. A big, heavy decoration.

“Thanks.” she said as they stumbled back on their feet. “First lifesaving since I got back. Damn I wanted to do that. 

“Sorry about that.” he answered as they started to run again. They finally reached the TARDIS, and Rose pulled her key out from under her shirt, which hung around her neck for years now, and hastily opened the door, before they all stumbled into the ship. The Doctor was the last and he slammed the door loudly.

“Okay!” he shouted. “I wasn’t expecting that!”

“Yeah well, you never do.” Rory pointed out helpfully, and the Doctor pulled the ship into the Time Vortex.

“It was good though wasn’t it? Until the whole ground shaking thing.” said Rose, and the Doctor smiled.

“Rose is right it was fun. Right until the end, that is.” Amy claimed, dropping herself onto the jump seat. “There’s no adventure without trouble with you anyway.”

“Oh, come on now Pond, trouble is just the bits in between, isn’t that right Rose?” 

Rose went for an answer, but before she could get the affirmation out, she let out an unintentional yawn, and the Doctor took a long look at her from head to toe.

“Right! You look tired, which is not surprising really, you jumped through universes not a day ago, so it makes sense. Bed for you!” Amy let out a sigh.

“Try catch him saying that to us. It’s always ‘ _oh you wanna sleep again!_ ’ and ‘ _you spend half of your lives in bed!_ ’ and ‘ _why Amy, but you slept like 4 days ago, how can you be tired already?’_ ” she said with a mocking voice, making Rose laugh, sleepily. Now that they were back on the TARDIS, she suddenly felt exhausted. She tried and failed to stifle another yawn.

“Sorry.” she apologized with a shy smile.

“It’s fine Rose.” said Rory. “The Doctor’s right. You should sleep. You were quite out of it yesterday. I could do with a nap too.” than he nodded towards the Time Lord. “And so could he.”

“I’m fine Rory.” said the stubborn alien, but Rose could tell that Rory was right. He spent years with the Doctor, and although, he wore a different face, she still recognised the signs when he became restless. He wasn’t that different, really.

“Come on Doctor, have some rest.” Amy told him, then winked. “Rose can help you sleep.” Rose felt herself blushing at that statement, and the Doctor looked away, clearing his throat.

“Right, ohmm... okay Ponds, goodnight and all that, Rose come on, I show you where your room is.” he said flustered, and Rose followed him, after a quick “see you later” to the Ponds. She knew where her room was of course, and even if that wasn’t be the case, the TARDIS would help her find it anyway, so showing her around was really not necessary, and the Doctor knew that. She quickly caught up with him though.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Of course. I’m always okay.”  he wasn’t looking at her, so he couldn’t see Rose wince at those words.

“No one believes you when you say that.” she murmured.

“I’m good Rose, really it’s just...” he stopped in his tracks and let out a sigh, rubbing his hand over his face. “Sorry I just... you haven’t been back for 24 hours and I already put you in danger.” the Doctor said bitterly. “This trip was meant to be relaxing and you almost died.”

“Doctor...” she slowly shook her head, reaching out to pull him into a hug. He wrapped her arms around her waist, and she held him close. “We both know that this life isn’t always safe. And sometimes things don’t turn out how we expected them to.” she wasn’t just talking about Barcelona and they both knew it. “But we deal with it together, okay?  And hey? I didn’t die. You saved me. You always do.” 

“Not always.” he whispered.

“No, but I don’t always need saving. Sometimes I can save myself, thank you very much.” she felt him smile into her shoulder, and they draw apart. She looked into his eyes for a second.

“Please don’t push me away.” she pleaded softly. “It’s not fair to me, and it’s not fair to you.” the Doctor nodded.

“I know. I won’t, I promise. And I know this is silly, I mean we’ve been through more near-death situations than _I_ can count. And I’m a Time Lord.” he smugly straightened his bow-tie. “But it’s different now isn’t it?”

“It is?” Rose asked. “Why?”

“I can’t...” his voice cracked slightly, as he tried to get the words out. “I can’t lose you again.” 

Rose swallowed, and leaned closer to put a soft kiss on his cheek. “You won’t. Forever, right?”

Something changed in his eyes and for a second, he just stared at her.

“Forever.” he breathed.

He cleared his throat, looking beside them, and Rose noticed that they were standing next to her bedroom. She was so tired but... sleeping wasn’t really appealing to her.

“Sweet dreams then.” said the Doctor after a moment, and he kissed her forehead before heading back to the console room. Rose only hesitated a bit before she stopped him.

“Doctor?” he spun around.

“Yeah?”

“Could you...” she bit her lip. Damn it why was this so hard? “Could you stay? I mean... Rory’s right you look tired too and... I don’t really want to be alone right now.” There. She said it. It was so pathetic. She’s been sleeping alone for years, this shouldn’t be a big deal. She closed her eyes when he didn’t answer, but felt his hand take hers a few moments later. She opened her eyes, to find him standing in front of her again.

“Of course I’ll stay Rose.” he said softly. And she smiled at him. He grinned back and nodded towards the door. “Shall we then?”

Rose nodded.

When they got inside, Rose excused herself to the bathroom, and she found a Doctor in a pair of very familiar pyjamas when she returned. They looked a little smaller on him this time, but it still fitted him.

“You kept it.”

“I did.” he nodded. “One can’t just throw away a pair of perfectly good pyjamas, Rose Tyler.” 

They crawled into the bed, and Rose cuddled to his side immediately, but he didn’t seem to mind. He responded by putting an arm loosely around her waist.

“Goodnight Rose.”

“Goodnight Doctor.” she murmured sleepily, before she drifted off to sleep.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

_It was happening all over again. She felt empty inside as she crossed through the now well-known corridors. She could feel the Doctor moving next to her, hear the familiar footsteps of his converse shoes, but she didn’t look in his way. She couldn’t. They were moving towards **that** door. She tried to stop, tried to tell him somehow, anyhow, that they should not go through that door. She felt her heartbeat increasing inside her chest, and for what it felt like the thousandth time attempted to turn away, to run in the opposite direction and dragging him with her, at all cost. But her limps just didn’t obey, and she couldn’t do anything. She was completely useless. _

_She put her hand on the door handle and tried to open it. It was locked._

_Yes! It’s locked, we can’t get in, so we can get out here as fast as we can! I can get him out of here._

_But she could already feel the hand on her shoulder that gently pushed her back, and the Doctor stepped ahead with the sonic screwdriver in his hand. A second later the door opened._

_No!_

_They entered another room. It looked like big space station. This was the place they were meant to find. She looked at him, finally, and he said something, but she couldn’t hear the actual words. Panic was slowly rising up inside of her, and she could feel her heart stop for a moment when another door behind them slammed open._

_She spun around completely aware of what’s going to happen in the next second. She knew she should run for cover, get as far away as she can, putting a distance between the two of them so he won’t be able to..._

_**BANG!** She heard the shot before she could even have a good look on the alien who'd made it, and a second later she found herself on the floor, with the feeling of another body above her. She could hear the footsteps of their attacker running away from them, probably to the closest spaceship available, and she knew she shouldn't let him escape after all the things he’s done, but she didn’t care._

_Because she could suddenly move. She tried to raise her hand and was glad to realise that her body was finally reacting to the will of her brain. The relief didn’t last long, when she realised something else. The Doctor above her wasn’t moving._

_Dread settled into her stomach. She quickly sat up, gathering him up in her arms. He was barely conscious, and there was blood on his shirt, right above were his human heart was desperately beating. His blood. He clung to her with all he had, and she felt tears streaming down her face, as he tried to say her name._

_That is not supposed to happen. That’s not what he promised. He said he’d grow old with her._

_She was begging him again. Begging him not to leave her, to hold on, just a little while longer, just until she can call help. She knew it was useless. It always was._

_She closed her eyes, clenching his shirt. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real, it already happened. Why did she had to relive it so many fricking times?!_

_She held him, feeling the life drain out of him quickly. He stopped breathing, but for the first time, she didn’t look at him. She had seen him die, so many times before, she couldn’t watch it all over again. So she kept her eyes closed._

 

_Something changed. She wasn’t with the Doctor anymore, she could feel it.  And then...  
_

__

_Rose opened her eyes and found herself in the TARDIS console room. Yes! This was real. She was back._

_She heard a noise from behind, and spun around. She felt her heart skipping a beat. The Doctor was there. The other Doctor. The Doctor with the bow-tie, and green eyes. But those eyes were closed, and he wasn't moving._

_She cried out, and kneeled down next to his lifeless form._

_No no no no no. This wasn’t happening. It wasn’t real, it could not be real. She reached down to touch his shoulders._

_“Doctor?” he didn’t respond. “Doctor wake up! Wake Up! Come on, don’t do this to me!” she started shaking him franticly but the Time Lord didn’t react. Something broke inside her, and she started sobbing so hard, it hurt. It hurt so much, and she tried to breathe but found that she wasn’t able to._

_“What have you done this time you stupid ape?”_

_What? But that was..._

_She looked behind her, and for a second she was so surprised, that she stopped crying. It was... him. Her first Doctor, the Doctor with the leather jacket, the one who asked her to come with him._

_“Do...Doctor? But...how...you’re...”_

_“Dead?” he scolded. “Yes I am. And who’s fault is that?” the Doctor asked, and Rose froze._

_“I...”_

_“I’m not really here Rose. I regenerated remember? To save your life.”_

_“I’m sor-”_

_“You’re sorry? That’s what you were gonna say?” he laughed. “Fat of good you are, sorry isn’t gonna make me better now, is it?” he took a step closer, and she saw disgust on his face, an emotion she had never seen on that face directing at her. “But that wasn’t enough, was it Rose? You killed me once, this me, then killed the other me, in a different universe. Seems like you’re on a roll Rose.” she stared at him, trembling, and it felt like her soul was burning inside of her._

_“I didn’t mean to! I never meant to hurt you!” she cried._

_“Well that didn’t go according to plan. Because that’s all you did since you stumbled into my life.” he roared, and it didn’t feel like the Doctor at all._

_“You’re not real.” she whispered brokenly. “This is not real!” he laughed bitterly._

_“Stop it!” Rose screamed. “Just stop please!”_

"Rose!"

_“You want me to stop? All you did was ruin my life for the past years, and when I thought that I'd finally got rid of you, YOU CAME BACK!” he screamed the last three words. “No one wanted you to come back! I certainly didn’t.”_

_“Stop...” she whimpered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Doctor.”_

“Rose!! Come on Rose stop, you have to wake up! WAKE UP!!”

_And she opened her eyes._

DWDWDWDWDWDW

The Doctor didn’t know what to do. He tried everything to wake Rose up, but he just _couldn’t_.

They had been lying in her bed for half an hour, and he had almost fell asleep. It wasn’t like him to get sleepy in such a short time, but Rose’s presence was so comforting, and he found himself dozing off soon enough.

He woke up at her screaming. Heart-breaking screams tore their way out of her throat, and he felt a sinking feeling in his gut as he franticly tried to get her out of her nightmare. She screamed his name, again and again, and he took a hold on her shoulders, trying not to think about the fact that her nightmare was about him. The Doctor shook her firmly.

“Rose wake up!” she drew away from him, as if in fear, and his hearts broke.

“Rose!! Come on Rose stop, you have to wake up! WAKE UP!!” he screamed, and she jerked awake with a yell. For a second she just stared at him, puzzled, like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, than her expression changed, recognition dawned, and the look on her face was so devastated that he wanted to cry. Then she launched herself into his arms. 

He didn’t hesitate a second before responding, and he hold her firmly while Rose clung to him, like her life depended on it. He let her.

“Breathe Rose.” he whispered. “It’s okay, it was just a dream. It’s okay, I promise. Just breathe.” he said softly, and she buried her face into is shoulder murmuring something against him repeatedly.

After a few tries, he could finally make out the words falling from her mouth.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You’re alive, oh god you’re alive.” she whimpered. “I’m so sorry Doctor.”

“Shh, it’s okay Rose, it’s alright, hey... look at me.” she raised her head slightly, and he could see her face again. One of his hands left her back, and he cupped her face. “It’s okay Rose. I’m fine. Please stop apologising, everything’s fine.” Rose only shook her head.

“It’s not.” she told him, her voice hoarse from the screaming. “It’s not okay. You...” she trailed off, and the Doctor gathered her up, so that she was sitting in his lap, instead of half lying in the bed.

Rose looked up at him, with huge, frightened eyes, but she seemed to be a little calmer now, as she took some deep breath.

“I’m okay.” she whispered. “I’m so-”

“Rose stop saying sorry.” he interrupted, and for some reason it made her wince.

“Hey, I just mean,” he took a deep breath. “there’s no need for you to be sorry Rose, that’s all.” she only stared at the wall, and he turned her head gently towards him, so that she l was looking into his eyes.

“Rose...tell me what happened. Tell me everything.”

And she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry about Tentoo guys, I love him, and his pure human soul, with all my heart, but it had to happen. :(  
> I'm sure most of you saw it coming. The other possibility was that he turned evil which is just... pfff lol.  
> All that bs about him being dangerous and not safe to left alone was just so ridiculous in Journey's End, like... look at him! This guy here? Come on now!  
> Yeah of course, he destroyed the Daleks and all, but who cares honestly?  
> It's not like the other Doc never did that. And everyone knows they deserved it (plus they didn't actually all die, as it turned out later, so it wasn't even a genocide, fight me).  
> So yeah, he won't be in this story, but I still love him XD Thought you should know.


	5. Stories (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose finally tells her story, and the Doctor is in for a surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... here we are.

“Okay.” Rose sighed. “Where do you... want me to start?”

“From the beginning.”

She nodded slowly. She couldn’t put this off forever. She knew she would have to tell him sometime. It was just... _so hard_.

“Right.” she said. Her voice was hoarse from all the screaming, so she cleared her throat. “Remember what you said about yourself, your other self I mean, before you left?” the Doctor looked confused. “You know, that he’s dangerous and all that?” He suddenly looked horrified.

“You mean... did he hur-”

“No,” Rose rolled her eyes. “Of course he didn’t hurt me, you daft alien. He was you!” she actually managed to smile a little. “I can’t believe you would think that any version of you could... actually no, I can totally believe that. That’s just... so you.” Rose shook her head fondly, and pressed closer to the Doctor’s body, taking comfort from his presence. “What I meant to say, that it was all rubbish. He wasn’t dangerous at all. He was amazing. Tony loved him. I think he was his hero.”

“It was hard at first of course. Difficult. I didn’t plan on staying there when I left. And the Doctor... well you know how grumpy you can get when it comes to domestic, and settling down. He just couldn’t stay put. And I wasn’t always there for him at the beginning” she said, looking guilty.

“What do you mean?”

“I... well I wasn’t sure if he was really, you know... you. Some little things were different, maybe because he was human, and sometimes he talked like Donna, which was hilarious by the way.” she chuckled, and the Doctor gave a slight smile. “But... soon it was just, so _bloody_ obvious that he was the same person. And I loved him.” Naturally. He was the Doctor. 

She didn’t say the last part out loud.

“And he loved me.”

“Of course he did.” said the Doctor matter of factly, and her heart skipped a beat.

“We were happy.” she looked up at the Time Lord, and saw the joy in his eyes when she said the sentence. As if all of his dreams came true, like all he ever wanted was her, being happy. But there was curiosity too. Why are you here then? If you were happy? That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you. That’s what his eyes told her.

“You made me happy.” sometimes she didn’t know how to refer to the other Doctor. You, or him. But the alien didn’t complain. Now that she looked at him, she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his.

“We lived together for a year.” she tried not to get lost in the memories, but had to smile anyway. That year. That beautiful, fantastic year. “We both adjusted. He started to work with me, in Torchwood. Saving the world together. Like we do. Started to grow that piece of TARDIS you gave us.”

“I... wasn’t really close to Tony. I was always too busy to bond with him before.”

“Doesn’t sound like you.” He said softly.

“I tried not to get too attached to him. And it was easier for him too, not to know me that well. I thought I would never see him again when I went away. Tony wouldn’t have known what happened. But... with the Doctor there, we visited a lot more. Mum was so happy. I spent more time with them, with Tony. The Doctor loved telling him stupid stories about aliens. We actually babysit him a couple of times. Didn’t end well, most of the time.” she had some especially fond memories of that. “Mum wasn’t happy when she got home” Rose grinned. But it slowly faded away when she remembered the things to come.

“We made a family together. You were part of that too. Although, I’ve considered you family even when you wore leather so...”

“Really?” he interrupted, looking bewildered. 

“Of course.” she shrugged. She loved him, ever since.

She took a breath to continue, when his arms slowly wrapped around her again. She was sort of sitting in his lap now, and didn’t mind the slightest. His arms weren’t tight around her, so she could still look at his face.

“You meant everything to me.” he whispered, making her speechless. “I mean, you still do but... even back then. I only knew you for a couple of weeks, but you...” he closed the gap between their foreheads. “You were everything.”

Rose felt a single tear making its way down her cheek. One of her hands slowly came up to touch his face. Their foreheads were still touching. She leaned forward slightly, until her mouth touched his. She kept the contact light, but long, and for a few moments they stayed like that, their lips touching, faces pressed together. After a while she leaned back to breathe, but her eyes stayed close. Now, the hard part.

“I started to, you know open up to him. Like I used to. And he did too. Told me what he was up to when I was gone. Talked about his feelings. Which was kinda new, but good. And I told him about my time without him. You. Whatever. I didn’t really get into the details, but Mum did. She told him all kinds of stuff. About... how broken I was after you were gone.”

“Rose...”

“It’s fine. I think she was exaggerating anyway. You know how she gets.” she chuckled. “But the Doctor was very serious about it. That’s when he started repairing it.”

“Repairing what?”

“The cannon. Mum told him that the cannon was the only thing that kept me going on those years. So, he thought it’s better if it’s alert, in case we need it. Made me help him too. Also made me promise something. That if anything happened to him, if I felt like a couldn’t take it anymore, I’d go back to you. He was kinda going through a crisis when he thought that he wasn’t good enough for me somehow. Although maybe that’s not a phase for you, but a default setting. I tried to pull him out of it, but he only calmed down when I made that promise. I said, okay, I’ll go back, if it comes to that. It was a lie. I only said that for his sake.” the Doctor looked confused.

“But then... why... how comes you’re here?” he asked. “I mean I’m happy and all, but if you...” he trailed off.

Rose looked away, and steeled herself. She could do this.

“We repaired it after all. For a couple of months everything was alright. Then...” she closed her eyes.

“It’s okay Rose.” the Doctor said softly. “Tell me.”

“We were on a mission. Together. We did that a lot. We were trying to track down some stupid aliens. We caught the signal of some spaceships on Earth. And of course we went without back-up.”

“You said, it was nothing, that they weren’t dangerous. Probably just some scavengers. We were already inside when I got a call from Dad. They slaughtered 23 people.” she shivered at the memory, and she saw the Doctor wince in the corner of her eye. “Dad sent some more people after us, to help us out. I thought we’d be able to find them you now? That we’d be ok. I mean...” she smiled bitterly, but there was no joy in it. “How many times had it been just the two of us? Defeating something big, or dangerous? And we always won in the end.”

She felt herself getting lost in the memories again, and her vision blurred. This was harder than she’d thought. She hadn’t told anyone this story for a long time. The Doctor squeezed her hand to give her some reassurance.

“But...this time was different. It h-happened so fast” Rose stammered. “We found the place and we were about to check for alien life forms and...” she couldn’t help letting out a sob then. “He just turned up fr-from nowhere. I mean I think it was a he. And I think he was alone. He probably got fed up with the planet or something because he looked like he wanted to escape. He wanted to get to one of the spaceships. We were just... in his way.” she impatiently brushed away the tears, and forced herself to look at him. “He tried to shoot me.

The Doctor’s eyes widened.

“Rose...”

“He tried to shoot me and you just _had to_ get into the way right!?” she screamed, suddenly feeling angry. She knew she shouldn’t yell at him, because he wasn’t actually the one who jumped in front of her, but he was the closest thing. And this Doctor would have done the same. She already had proof on that.

“Rose please-” he started, but Rose didn’t let him finish.

“You always have to sacrifice yourself for me you idiot! And I’m sick of it, I’m _sick_ of you always being the **bloody hero**!!” she was properly crying now, and she hit his chest with her fists, while burying her face into his shoulder. The Doctor let her, and after a couple of blows she dropped her hands and collapsed against him, sobbing like her heart was breaking. She felt exhausted.

The Doctor held her close, murmuring reassurance in her ear, telling her that it’s okay, that he’s here, and he’s not going anywhere. It made her cry a little harder, because this wasn’t the first time she’d heard that from him.

“It’s okay Rose. It’s okay.”

“No. It’s not.” she whimpered against him. “Why did he do that? Why couldn’t he just-”

“What, let you die?” The Doctor interrupted. “Do you think I’d be capable of letting you die, when I have the slightest chance to save you? He asked quietly. “Because... I could never do that, Rose Tyler. Never.” he let out a sigh, and kissed her forehead. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I’m so, so sorry. But we both know, I’d die for you in a heartbeat.” Rose let out whimper.

“But I don’t want you to.”

“I know.” he acknowledged.

For a few minutes (or maybe it was longer than that, she couldn’t really tell), Rose let him hold her, taking comfort from his touch.

“You don’t have to tell me more. Not now.” he whispered. “That was quite enough, you can tell me the other stuff later.”

“No.” Rose answered, with no hesitation. She sat up a little, so she was facing him. “No, I want to tell you everything.” the Doctor nodded reluctantly. “Alright.”

Rose swallowed, and took a deep breath.

“So... you... he pushed me aside, and covered me with hi-his body. I... I felt that something was wrong the second he fell on me” she found it easier to refer to the human doctor as “him” instead of “you” at that point. “I heard him take a shaky breath, and he hissed in pain. I looked up and ther-there wa-was blood _everywhere.”_ her voice cracked on the last word. She closed her eyes, and immediately regretted doing so. Because when she did, she could see it all again.

“He was dying.” she whispered. “I was... I tried to call for help but the wound was...” she broke off helplessly.

“Rose, I’m sorry.” he whispered, and she saw tears in his eyes. 

“It’s not your fault. It’s mine.” his eyes widened.

“No, of course not.”

“I killed you.” Rose whimpered. She felt so miserable. He was comforting her, when she didn’t deserve it at all...

“No!” the Doctor said franticly. He took a hold on her hands, and looked into her eyes. “Don’t think that for a second, Rose Tyler! It was his choice. He chose to save you.”

“Yeah. You always do that. First, on the Game Station and then...”

“Rose...”

“Doctor how long where you in your ninth body when you regenerated to save me?”

“What? Why does that matter? How do you even know that it was my ninth-”

“You told me.” she cut him off. “The other you.”

“Oh.”

“So how long?”

“Damn it Rose, I don’t know, maybe a year or two.” she stared at him blankly for a second.

“A year.” she said quietly. “You had nine bodies in 900 years and I managed to kill you after one bloody year.” 

DWDWDWDWDW

The Doctor felt like his hearts were breaking into pieces at her tone. There was so much pain in her voice, and he just wanted to make her feel better.  When she started her story, he suspected that it wouldn’t have a happy ending, but the bitterness in her voice and the guilt in her eyes that slowly turned visible during her tale was agonizing. Because it wasn’t her fault, of course it wasn’t. He just had to convince her. But looking at her now, he wasn’t sure he could.

“You saved me.” he said softly, and Rose looked up.

“What?”

“On the Game Station. If you hadn’t come back, I’d be dead. You understand that Rose? Not regenerated, dead. And you saved me countless times before, and after.”

“The other you-”

“The other me would never have existed at all, if it wasn’t for you. And that one year you two had together? You probably made him happier, than he’s ever been. You gave him a family again Rose! Something I never thought would, or could ever have again.” he said firmly. “And then there’s the fact that I'd be long dead if I’d never met you.”

Rose was staring at him, puzzled. “I thought you’ll be angry at me. For getting you killed.” he ignored the dread twisting in his stomach at that statement. 

“You didn’t get me killed. That’s what I’m saying. I wouldn’t even made it out Henrik’s if it wasn’t for you.” he admitted.

“What?”

“Oh, Rose why do you think I was running around with a bomb in my hand, like cheery cowboy?” Rose looked horrified.

“You mean...”

“It wasn’t my intention to survive Rose. I went after closing time, but of course I picked up a life-form from the basement, because _someone_ had to wander off, as usually.”

“I was meant to found Winston.” his human murmured, but the corner of her lips turned upside slightly.

“Yeah well, I couldn’t really blow up the thing with you in there. So, I went down, found you, and suddenly, I wanted to live.” Rose looked utterly stunned. “ _You_ made me want to live again, Rose Tyler.” he finished quietly.  

Rose was speechless. She was looking at him with wonder in her eyes, and yet again, it broke him to see her so insecure.

“What happened after that?” the Doctor asked. Rose cleared her throat before answering. 

“After... after that day, I was just... numb. Empty. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so hopeless.” she shuddered. “Not even after Canary Wharf. I lost you again, and it hurt _so much._ My family helped me a lot. They were devastated too, you know. Mum was crying a lot. Tony didn’t really know what happened, but he was missing you all the time. Sometimes he would bring it up, and I... I just couldn’t...” she trailed off helplessly.

“But I didn’t leave. I couldn’t. I... it wasn’t like before. During that one year I’ve grew closer to my brother and my Dad. I missed you so much but...”

“You couldn’t leave them.” he finished. “I understand Rose. They were your family.”

“And it wasn’t just that. He died for me. And... I just felt like I’d be replacing him with you, you know? I mean,” she hastily clarified. “I know that you’re the same person. I realise that. But in the same time... you aren’t, not really. Because you both lived a different life, from the moment you left.” he felt a bit guilty at the memory.

“And he was the one I... we were...”

“He was the Doctor who stayed with you.” the Time Lord said with a low voice. “He was the one who said...” he trailed off. “It’s okay Rose. You don’t have to explain it.”

“I just didn’t know what to do.” she whispered. “So, I carried on. Tried to live a fantastic life, and all that. You know the drill. I had nightmares about that day every night. The worst day of my life.”

“I’m sorry.”

“They got better as the years went by. But this one tonight was the worst I've had for a long time.” something in that sentence just didn’t sit right in the Doctor’s mind. Then it clicked.

“As the years went by... how many years, Rose?” she bit her lip, and cast her eyes down. “Rose?” he said, feeling a bit alarmed. “How long has it been since I last saw you on that beach?” 

Rose looked at him for a moment before answering, and he thought he could detect a hint of fear in her eyes. His breath caught in his throat when he heard her answer, and cold dread settled in his stomach.

“Fourteen years.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, you all ;) <3  
> I love the comments under this thing, they're so sweet and clever, I adore them. 😍😍


	6. Stories (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuck with you? Not so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay! This chapter was way harder than it should have been.

_“As the years went by... how many years, Rose?” she bit her lip, and cast her eyes down. “Rose?” he said, feeling a bit alarmed. “How long has it been since I last saw you on that beach?”_

_Rose looked at him for a moment before answering, and he thought he could detect a hint of fear in her eyes. His breath caught in his throat when he heard her answer, and cold dread settled in his stomach._

_“Fourteen years.”_

________

“What!?” the Doctor exclaimed loudly, making Rose wince. That was not possible. He didn’t understand. How could she...? But... “But you...”

“Don’t look a year older than twenty?” Rose finished the sentence for him. “Yeah, I’m aware.” she tried to look calm and collected, but the Doctor could see that she was very nervous to let him know about this.

“How is that possible?” he asked. “Rose you... you should have told me sooner, what if something’s wrong, what if...” this was not something he had been expecting. At all.

“Doctor” Rose interrupted quietly. “I’ve been like this for almost two decades now. A couple of days won’t make any difference.” she said, and the Doctor looked away, seemingly incapable of even formulating a response to this.

“Yeah, well you can’t know that. We have to... I should....” he stammered, trying to figure out what to do. This just... wasn’t possible. 

“Look, it’s okay. I’m fine.” Rose said casually. _Too_ casually. “I know that this is quite a shock for you...”

“You think?” he said harshly, but instantly regretted his tone of voice when he saw Rose’s face. “Sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just... this is not supposed to happen, Rose. You’re... human.” he finished quietly, and Rose smiled at him, sadly.

“I’m not sure about that anymore either, to be honest.” she told him softly.

He recoiled slightly, but didn’t lose the hold on her hands. He felt like he shouldn’t even be surprised anymore. But the thought of her not aging was... quite horrifying. For the past few years, he’d been living his life, thinking he had given Rose a normal, human life. That finally, she could be happy without him. Of course, when she turned up in the TARDIS a day ago, he realised that something must have gone wrong, but this... this was just _unthinkable_. 

Because the Doctor knew what it felt like to be immortal. Well, not immortal exactly, but something close to that. He knew the dread, the horrid feeling of being surrounded by people he was fond of, people he _loved,_ knowing that it won’t last. That they would be gone one day, and he’d be still there. Alone. It was an infinitely lonely life, one he had never wished for Rose.

He realised that he probably displayed his feelings on his face, because Rose was giving him a hesitant look, almost like she expected him to run away, or to shout at her. 

The Time Lord took a deep breath, and shook his head, willing himself to calm down.

“Okay.” he said lowly. ”Tell me how.”

“I’m not really sure.” Rose whispered. “I just know that after like five or six years we slowly started to realise that something was different. I was different. The others started to get older. I didn’t. Tony went to school. He was in fourth grade when he asked me why I still looked the same as I did years ago. He was the first to notice, actually.” she smiled. “He’s such a smart kid.”

“But Mum and Dad also caught up on it soon. And it wasn’t just my lack of ageing. I was healing faster too.” the Doctor felt a twist in his stomach.

“How... how do you know that?” he asked reluctantly, fearing the answer.

“It’s nothing really. I just had a little accident.”

“What kind of accident?”

“It doesn’t matter!” Rose shouted, suddenly angry. “What matters is that I got better much sooner than a should have. After that, Dad insisted we do a scan on me. I wanted to refuse, but I also wanted to know what's going on, so eventually I agreed.”

“And...?” the Doctor said, when she didn’t continue. Rose bit her lower lip.

“It was... weird. I was healthy. Nothing dangerous, or anything like that.” she added hurriedly, when he looked alarmed. “Just different.”

“How different?”

“My cells, I guess. And my DNA. No one could really understand it. And you should know that the Torchwood scans can identify species.”

“Of course they can.” murmured the Doctor. “What did they say?”

“Nothing.” said Rose simply, leaving the Doctor speechless.

“What do you mean...”

“I mean that the scans couldn’t identify my species. Instead of saying I’m human it said... unknown.”

“Unknown.” the Doctor repeated numbly. 

“Yeah...” Rose mumbled.

“Hm... guess that’s the part where your mother passed out.” the Doctor said with the intension of making her laugh, and he smiled when the attempt was successful.

“She totally freaked out.” she chuckled. “I kinda did too, to be honest.”

“Of course you did Rose, everyone would’ve.” he said softly.

“Yeah, I guess. Anyway. Everyone had a scare but we didn’t really know what to do about it so we just... accepted it, I guess. I mean it wasn’t easy. I tried to act like I wasn’t scared to death, but Mum could see right through me. She wanted to talk about it all the time, but I always protested, said don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.” she shrugged. “But then the years went by, and I... as Tony got older, I realised that... if I’m not ageing, that means I’ll have to watch him die. Along with everyone else.” 

The Doctor sighed. Oh, he knew that feeling way too well. That sickening realisation.

“I mean...” Rose stammered. “I sort of expected it to outlive my parents of course, but Tony... and then there’s everyone else, my friends, my...” she trailed of, but the Doctor put his hand on her shoulder.

“I get it Rose. Believe me, I do.”

Rose nodded, blinking rapidly. 

“You didn’t want to be alone.” he whispered. “That’s why you came back.”

“Not... exactly.” the Doctor narrowed his eyes. “Then why?”

“I mean... I guess that was a reason too. After we discovered my... whatever this is, everything felt different. I was afraid of having to watch all the people I know getting older, and die. When I looked at Tony all I could think was- that one day he’ll be gone.” Well, that was something he could relate to.  “I could have avoided all that by coming back. But... the main reason was,” she took a deep breath, and looked into his eyes. “Do you have any idea how much I missed you?” she whispered, and the Doctor felt his breath catching at the pure emotion in her voice. She said it before but now...

“I think I got a vague concept of it yeah.” he breathed softly, trying to blink back the tears.

“These last few years...I tried to be happy Doctor. I really did. And sometimes, I think...I think I was. But... you weren’t there. And I don’t think I could ever be fully happy without you. I thought about you, every minute of every day. I wanted to come back all the time, I just- didn't know if you still wanted me.”

“ _Rose...”_

“Just hear me out. I... missed you desperately. I grieved the other you, and I had no idea if you, I mean, _you,_ were happy, or alone or... if you were even alive. And it was just... killing me. I was so afraid that something had happened to you too. You were always rubbish on your own you know. And reckless. Jeopardy friendly.”

“You can talk.” the Doctor teased her quietly, and Rose smiled.

“And I thought... now that I’m not aging... maybe I could stay with you.” she stared into his eyes, searching for an answer. “Forever.” the promise that she made all those years ago, still left her lips the same way. She still meant it, maybe even more than before, because now... she could finally be able to keep it. 

“I came back, so you never have to be alone again.” she spoke the words with deliberate precision. “I’ve got a very long life now Doctor. I could spend it with you... if you want.”  

The Doctor felt his hearts skip a beat. Happiness trembled inside of him at the implications of that statement. Rose Tyler with him. In the TARDIS. Forever. 

It wasn’t possible before. Her life span had never matched his. Up until now. Against all the odds, Rose came home, and yet again promised him, that he didn’t have to be alone anymore. And the thing is... the Doctor didn’t want to be alone ever again. He didn’t want to be without her. He knew what it felt like, being separated from Rose, and he really wasn’t keen on reliving the experience. The Ponds were brilliant of course, but no one could ever replace her. No one could make him happier.

He realised that he’d been quiet for way too long, when he saw the hesitation growing in her eyes, and he quickly took a hold on her hand as she tried to pull away.

“Rose Tyler...” he looked at her hearing the wonder and the awe in his own voice, and he hoped that she heard it too. He pulled her closer and could detect the hope in her eyes.

“I’d like that. Very much.” the Time Lord whispered against her lips.

“Yeah?” she asked quietly.

“Oh yes. I would love to spend the rest of my life with you, Rose Tyler.” he replied, before closing the gap between their lips.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

He kissed her, and Rose answered without hesitation, pulling him closer, until their faces were pressed together. They broke apart after a few moments to breathe, but Rose pushed forward again soon. This time her lips were slightly parted and so were his. She thrust her tongue into his mouth and the Doctor let out a delighted moan, as she leisurely explored him. Between wet and open-mouthed kisses, he started murmuring something against her and it took Rose several seconds to realise what it was.

“I love you. I love you. I love you so much.” he whispered, over and over again and Rose felt sheer and profound joy rushing through her soul, as happiness overwhelmed her. She knew of course. But hearing him saying it after all this time... that was entirely different. Because it does need saying.

She leaned away to look into his eyes. They shined with happiness, and she felt overwhelmed by the pure and deep emotions reflected in them. 

“I love you too.” Rose said, and she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. The Doctor tenderly wiped them away with his thumps, kissing her once more.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.” he breathed. “I’m sorry you had to wait for so long.” he kissed her again. “And I’m sorry you had to go through all that in Pete’s World. I missed you so much.”

“I’m sorry for not coming back sooner.” said Rose, but the doctor was shaking his head. 

“Don’t be. I’m glad you could have a family for a while. You deserved it.”

“You’re my family too.” the Doctor smiled at her softly, but sincerely. “I’m gonna miss them. But...it’s worth it. You're worth it.” she stated. 

“I’m...” the Time Lord shallowed, and she could see the gratitude in his deep green eyes. “Thank you.” he sniffled suddenly, and impatiently wiped away some tears of his own. “Thank you for not giving up on me Rose. Even though I deserved it sometimes.” her heart broke at the guilt in his voice.

“Don’t say that.” she said soothingly, cupping his cheeks.

“It’s true though. I really don’t deserve you, Rose Tyler.” he smiled sadly. “Never really did. But you’re still here, by my side.”

“Always will be. You’re stuck with me now.”

“Stuck with you?” he asked. 

“Not so bad?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”


	7. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor finally comes to his senses about his relationship with Rose. He reflects on all the things that had happened to her - everything they’d been through together - and decides to stop wasting anymore time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really, really sorry about the delay guys. I’ve been away from my computer the last week or so because of some social work thingy, and I fell behind a bit with the school stuff as well because of it. As a consequence, I didn’t have time to continue this at all. But I got back to it, as soon as I could because I know some people love this, and I really don’t wanna let down you lot. Hope You’ll enjoy this chapter.

When the Doctor woke up, it took him a second to realise why he was in bed. He wasn’t really keen on sleeping and even if he did, it usually happened accidently, while he was working, or repairing something, and not in bed. And it was more like dozing off for a couple of minutes, maybe half an hour, than actual good night sleep. It wasn’t easy for the last Time Lord to convince himself that he, in fact, needed sleep. Probably because every time he closed his eyes, he could hear more screams, than anyone would ever be able to count. Except... 

He hadn’t had a bad dream tonight. He couldn’t even remember his dream, but he had the faintest feeling that it was a good one. Well... it’d been a while since that happened. 

Then suddenly, it all came back to him. Rose, the trip to Barcelona, her nightmare, her story... he remembered how they’d cuddled up together after, how closely they’d held each other. He remembered her falling asleep in his arms, but couldn’t recall when he’d drifted off. That was weird. He already had his sleep before, he could remember. He had woken up because she had a nightmare. He was surprised that he’d managed to fall asleep again after that. Maybe he needed it more than he realised. 

She was lying next to him, still sleeping. His arms were around her, holding her tight, and she rested her hands on his chest. She appeared to be in peace, she even had a slight smile on her lips. The Doctor let out a relieved sigh at that observation. No more nightmares then. For either of them. They should do this more, the cuddling, he thought.  

He looked at her face, and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked absolutely beautiful like this. The Doctor closed his eyes, enjoying her close presence, and taking comfort from it. When was the last time he’d slept next to someone he loved? He couldn’t remember. 

The overwhelming joy in his hearts was disturbed when he recalled the details of her story from the night before. She had suffered so much because of him. And now had a big weight on her shoulders. One she should have never experience. She wasn’t aging. 

The Doctor had... mixed feeling about that. Staying with Rose Tyler forever... just the thought of it made him happier than ever. When he had looked at her before, some part of his big, complicated Time Lord brain had always been thinking about the fact that she’s gonna wither and die one day. Even if she’d kept her promise, even if she’d stayed with him until the very end of her life... there just wasn’t a happy ending for them. He was used to that of course. The absence of happy endings in his life. But the thought of Rose Tyler dying...he wasn’t sure he’d be able to go on after that. After all, he did almost get himself killed several times after Canary Wharf. And she wasn’t even dead, she was just...away. Unreachable. So if he could avoid that... avoid having to see her get older and wither away... 

On the other hand, he was scared. Eternity was a long time. He knew that, better than anyone else in the universe. Maybe with the exception of Jack Harkness. What if Rose got tired of him after a few decades? What if she wanted to settle down, but wasn’t able to, because of her condition? What happens when she realises, that this life with him was not that good after all? That _he_ wasn’t that good? She had only travelled with him for 2 and a half years. That’s nothing, compared to centuries.  

He felt his hearts pounding faster at the thought.  

No. He should not be thinking about that. She was here _now._ In his arms. He unconsciously tightened his grip on her. She was here. And he wasn’t going to waste any more time. He was passed pushing her away. If there was a chance that he could finally make her happy, then he was going to take that chance. 

_I came back, so you never have to be alone again._  

She had said that yesterday. She came back, left her family behind, _again_ , to make sure he wasn’t alone. To be there for him. He was not going to let her down, not after everything. He was going to be there for her in return. No more running away. No more pretending. She deserves more than that. 

They’d spent only a few years together, yet she’d gave him so many wonderful memories, beautiful, heart-breaking memories. Some of them full of happiness and joy, some of them filled with sorrow and sadness, but all of them worth remembering. And he remembered _every second_ _..._  

_“Run.”_  

_“Did I mention? It also travels in time.”_  

_“Blimey, you look beautiful!”_  

_“Better with two.”_  

_“I could save the world, but lose you.”_  

_“Show me your moves.”_  

_“Absolutely fantastic!”_  

When he’d regenerated it took her less than 15 hours to except him again. He’d caused her so much pain by not telling her about regeneration, but she’d forgiven him almost instantly. She’d spent her Christmas with him the same day, with her family. _Their_ family. And when he’d asked her if she still wanted to come, she didn’t hesitate for a single moment. 

_“That way.”_  

_“Sir Doctor.”_  

_“Dame Rose.”_  

_“You can spend the rest of your life with me. But I can_ _’t_ _spend the rest of mine with you.”_  

_“You said blue!”_  

_“I said_ **_not_ ** _blue!”_  

_“How long are going to stay with me?”_  

**_“Forever.”_ ** 

_“I made my choice a long time ago, and I’m_ ** _never_** _gonna_ _leave you.”_  

_“I... I love you.”_  

Rose shifted in her sleep, and he opened his eyes, and realised she was about to wake up. The Doctor let the memories sink back deeper into his mind, not letting go of them for a second. He popped himself up to his elbows, careful not to disturb her, and paced a lingering kiss on her cheek and then her lips. 

“Mmh.” she murmured contently, and the Doctor let out a chuckle. 

“Good morning.” he said quietly, and kissed her noise playfully. 

Rose slowly opened her eyes and smiled up at him. “Morning.” she said sleepily. 

_She’s adorable._  

“Good morning.” she laughed at that, and the Doctor frowned. “What?” 

“You said tha’ already.” 

“Oh.” Rose laughed again, and pulled him down for another kiss. He gladly accepted it. 

“So.” he said a little bit breathless, when they broke apart. “I guess kissing’s like a regular event now? Hm... between us?” 

Rose raised an eyebrow. “Well, do you want it to be, or, you wanna stop...” 

“Oh no no no no.” he cut in hastily. “It’s fine. Eh... perfectly fine. Brilliant in fact. Quite acceptable. More than acceptable really...” He was blushing. The Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm was blushing because of Rose Tyler. 

She smiled at him fondly, and he could see the mischief in her eyes before she rolled them over, so that he was stranded between the sheets and her. He felt his hearts speeding up, pounding wildly inside his chest, as she pressed her lips against his, harder this time. Her mouth moved wildly, tasting, biting and sucking, and the Doctor got the sudden urge to thrust his tongue into her mouth. He pulled her closer against him, and when she opened her lips a bit, he gladly took advantage. Rose let out a moan as he eagerly explored her mouth, and he couldn’t hold back a similar sort of sound when she bit his bottom lip and scraped her nails against his scalp. The intimacy of the kiss, and the closeness of her body pressing against his, felt amazing, and he was delighted to hear a choked groan she made as he slid his tongue against hers. 

Their urgency slowed after a few minutes and the kiss turned more tender. When she finally pulled back to breath (the lack of respiratory bypass had her at a disadvantage) he turned them over to kiss her neck on several places before sucking on her skin. Rose hissed in pleasure and he pulled back to take in her face, noticing that her lips were swollen from the snogging, and a small hickey started making an appearance on her neck. Slight possessiveness flared up inside him, at the sight.  

She looked gorgeous. 

Rose blushed, and he realised he must’ve said that last part out loud. She was still catching her breath, and it made him smile smugly. 

“That was delightful.” he said huskily and she grinned at him. 

“It really was. But while this has been great, do you think we can find some breakfast? I’m starving.” 

“Right you are, Rose Tyler! Breakfast it is!” And he pressed one last lingering kiss on her lips before he rolled out of the bed. 

Yes. He quite liked all this ‘no more pretending’ thing.  

 

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW 

 

Amy was worried. It was late. Both she and Rory had woken up long ago, and the Doctor _never_ slept longer than them. He hardly ever slept to be honest, but she’d seen how exhausted he'd been last night, no matter how hard he tried to pretend otherwise. Still. He should have been long awake by now. She had a thought that maybe he was staying with Rose, but he wasn’t really the type to stay still. Though now that she thought about it, two days ago she’d never would’ve guessed that he was the type to fall in love with a human either. 

Rory was having breakfast next to her, with his adorable bedhead she adored so much, and was constantly telling her to stop worrying so much already, and eat. 

“Seriously Amy, they probably just have a talk or something.” he said between two bites. “You did say that Rose could help him sleep.” he reminded her with a slight smile, and Amy let out a sigh. 

“Yeah you’re right I guess I’m just...” 

Before she could finish the sentence, Rose and the Doctor walked in the kitchen holding hands, both looking suspiciously as if they had just been snogged thoroughly.   

She also noticed that the weight in Rose’s eyes seemed to have lessened since last night. She was relieved, because it’d been troubling her, and she didn’t like seeing Rose so tormented. 

She’d only known her for two days, but she already considered her a friend. And she meant the world to the Doctor, so there’s that. 

“Hello there.” she said, letting her worry slip away. 

“Hi.” beamed Rose, and the Doctor smiled at them. In the corner of her eyes she could see Rory raising an eyebrow. 

“What are you two so happy about?” he asked suspiciously.  

“What are you two so miserable about?” replied the Doctor as he sat down watching as Rose started to prepare breakfast for herself.  

“Nothing. Amy has been worried that’s all. Told her she shouldn’t be though.” 

“Why were you worried?” Rose joined the conversation sitting down as well. Next to the Doctor obviously. 

“Oh, you know I was just wondering where he is. He’s not one for sleeping much you know.” 

“Oh, I’m aware.” Rose said with a smile. “Sorry we were just... catching up a little.”  

“See, I told you.” said Rory looking very satisfied about the fact that he was right, making Amy roll her eyes. 

After breakfast (the Doctor actually had breakfast with them! A bit domestic for him innit?), the Time Lord went to the console room, and Amy had herself a minute with Rose alone when Rory left to have a shower. 

“So, how are you?” she asked as Rose finished eating, and the other girl looked up in surprise. 

“Good. Great actually. Why?”  

“Just want to make sure. I know it must be hard, jumping into a whole other universe.” Rose opens her mouth to respond but Amy cuts in. “I don’t know the full story of course. But I’ve seen it in your eyes yesterday. We all did.”  

“Oh.” she sighed softly, breaking the eye contact for a moment before looking back up. “I... it’s complicated. But we talked. Last night. And I told him a lot.” she bit her bottom lip.  

“That’s good.” Amy smiled softly. “Talking helps a lot. Which is something I’ve been trying to get into the Doctor’s stupid head for ages.” Rose let out a chuckle. “But he’s more open with you around. That’s a progress.”  

“Yeah I hope so.” 

“Speaking of progressions.” Amy grinned. “That’s a nice hickey you got there.” she pointed towards her neck, and Rose blushed furiously as she pulled her T-shirt up, to cover it. 

“Shut up.” she said, but she was obviously trying not to smile. Amy’s smile turned more sincere and she looked into Rose’s eyes. She seemed to sense the change and looked back at her, equally serious. 

“I’m really glad you’re back.” she whispered fondly. “You’re good for him. I never really realised how sad he was until...” she felt some moisture in her eyes and wiped it away impatiently. “You make him happy and I’m grateful for that. I’ve known him since I was a child and I care about him deeply. Me and Rory both. So... thank you. For...” she trailed off wiping her face yet again, and a second later Rose was hugging her. She hugged her back quickly. 

“I’m the one who’s supposed to be thanking you.” she heard Rose murmur. “You’re the reason he hasn’t been alone. You and Rory, you’ve been there for him. Thank you.” she said, before pulling back. Rose had some tears in her eyes as well. 

“Well, you’re welcome.” she let out a soft chuckle. “He loves you, you know.” 

“I do. He told me today.” she answered, her eyes filled with emotion. 

“About damn time.”  Amy exclaimed loudly, making Rose giggle. 

“It’s nice to have another girl on board.” she said, and Amy had to agree. 

“It is isn’t it? Now let’s find these two, before we accidently end up on Mars or something.” 

In the console room, the Time Lord started the engines, promising them the trip of their life. 

“You’re gonna love it, I’ve been wanting to take you lot there for weeks Ponds! Brilliant planet, absolutely gorgeous! Up for some adventuring Rose?” the blonde grinned at him wildly, her eyes bright with excitement.  

“Always.” 

The Doctor hit the switch, and they were off. 


End file.
